Studio Rhythms
July 2026“Studio Rhythms” is a group show by Dahlia S L Gallery, featuring work by Noella Noel, Fabrizio Sclocco, Daniela Terroba Schlam, Elly Smallwood, and Callum Keith Rennie. Taking a look into studio practice, the artist’s studio is often an abstract, hidden, and maybe even mythologized space. The show gives a glimpse into the studio space, as the birthplace of artworks but also as part of its own routine, rituals, and space of mind. For the sake of routine, ritual, and creative inspiration, music has a cemented place in the life of the studio. Containing largely works on paper, the pieces emphasize the process of creation and the variability of creative processes between individual artists. Specifically, the show highlights the place of music in both the creative process and studio routine, thinking more deeply about the environment made by artists to fuel their craft. How do we create safe spaces? How do we create routine? What impact does that have on the work that comes out of the studio? See a collection of works on paper to get a glimpse into the practice and craft of working in the studio.
Date
July 26, 2025
Location
Prince Edward County, West Lake area. Address upon reservation.
Below is a series of interviews with a few of the artists featured in this show, on their studio practices, and the place of music in that practice:
FEATURED ARTISTS
Daniela Terroba Schlam
What is your routine as you get into the studio? Do you need to ‘get into a groove’ for your artistic process?
The routine for getting into the studio is different every day. My emotions and my concentration shift day to day, so I don’t need to work myself into a groove — I just know I have to work, so I start working, and once I’m in that place and moment, different things start to ask of me what they need.
Is the studio space private, public, etc.? Do you see your studio practice/creative process as something spontaneous and open or as resulting from a more private and regular routine?
The space I work in is private. The studio I have now is part of my house. That changes things — it’s not an isolated space, and the practice isn’t isolated from my everyday life. Daily life and art are completely fused. The practice is crossed by my ordinary processes: showering, eating, sitting in the living room for a while, reading — I’ll bring a ceramic piece into the living room, then bring it back to the studio, pull out books, flip through them, and return to the studio. I think both factors are always present, the spontaneous and the regular, but there’s a kind of continuity between them rather than a strict separation.
I also think that as certain interests take hold, certain images become recurring. Part of my routine is having my reference images and keeping them close by so I’m constantly seeing them — even without really looking — so that by the time I start producing, that visual information has been absorbed both unconsciously and consciously.
Do you listen to music as you create? How are you picking what you’re watching or listening to?
Yes, I normally listen to music, though I turn it off when I feel it’s taking over the practice too much. It’s different every day — there’s no fixed routine. Some days I want experimental music; some days I need a woman’s voice; some days I don’t want lyrics at all, nothing that can accompany me too closely. Right now I’m listening to Pauline Oliveros, Hatis Noit and Marina Herlop. When I want to enter a more mystical, atmospheric state, I listen to Gregorian chants. Other times painting demands something very physical, and I need to dance, so I’ll put on Italo Disco, post-punk, experimental, or something more psychedelic. Sometimes I feel the need to put on headphones, to shut everything out even more.
Does media (music, movies, shows, books, podcasts) you’re consuming at the time of certain projects impact the process or piece?
Definitely, especially when a piece comes from something more theoretical. But even beyond that, I think there’s always a kind of halo that remains. I think of pieces as tied to whatever I was listening to or watching at the time. In my last series, for example, I was listening to music that made me think of water — also as a way of putting myself into a certain kind of state. If a viewer can sense that in the work, it’s fascinating — but when I look at the piece myself, I know it’s full of that musical parenthesis in time.
Something that’s also started happening is that I’ve begun exhibiting my pieces with sound. So sound is starting to play an important role, because it accompanies the work — in that sense, the moment of creating a piece always comes with an assimilation of that sound, which maybe also shapes how the piece is understood when it’s seen.
I also use podcasts, mostly as a way in when I haven’t managed to start working yet — a kind of intermediate step. Sometimes listening to a podcast while I work is what lets the work take over; I stop paying attention to the podcast and get absorbed in the piece instead.
With movies, of course, it works more like intuition — the piece will suddenly ask me to enter certain states. Lately I’ve been watching a lot of sci-fi, because I want to see how bodies are presented and transformed in film. They’re references, yes, even if not always direct or obvious ones, but they exist, and I end up reflecting on them. In the end, I think everything is part of something else. What I listen to transforms what I make, and what I make asks me to go looking for other things. It’s a continuous cycle — the processes are never isolated from other ways of imagining.
Fabrizio Sclocco
What is your routine as you get into the studio? Do you need to ‘get into a groove’ for your artistic process?
I usually start my day journaling, so by the time I arrive at the studio, I’ve already filtered through a lot of my thoughts. I walk around the space, look at works in progress, and spend a few moments observing before I ever touch a brush. Entering the studio is a psychological shift. It’s where I become Sclocco. Over the years, I’ve consciously built Sclocco as an artistic alter ego, not as someone separate from me, but as the version of myself that’s free from everyday expectations, self-consciousness, and fear. Fabrizio is the person who lives everyday life; Sclocco is the artist who steps into the studio with complete honesty, curiosity, and vulnerability. Building that identity has allowed me to create from instinct rather than obligation. Painting isn’t about forcing creativity; it’s about creating the conditions for it to emerge naturally. Some days I paint immediately, while other days I simply sit with the work until it tells me where it wants to go.
Is the studio space private, public, etc.? Do you see your studio practice/creative process as something spontaneous and open or as resulting from a more private and regular routine?
My studio is a very private space. It’s where I can disconnect from the outside world and fully step into Sclocco. It’s one of the few places where I don’t feel the need to perform or explain myself. While I believe in the discipline of showing up consistently, what happens once I’m there is deeply intuitive. I rarely begin with a fixed outcome in mind. The paintings evolve through experimentation, responding to the canvas, and embracing unexpected moments. My practice is rooted in routine, but the work itself is born from spontaneity.
Do you listen to music as you create? How are you picking what you’re watching or listening to?
Music is an essential part of my practice, but I don’t limit myself to one genre. I listen to everything: from opera and jazz to industrial, electronic, post-punk, alternative, and sometimes even pop music. It isn’t about matching the music to the subject I’m painting. It’s about finding the emotional atmosphere that Sclocco needs to exist on that day. I love discovering new music, and once something resonates, I’ll often play it on repeat for weeks until it becomes inseparable from that body of work. Some days, though, silence is exactly what the painting needs.
Does media (music, movies, shows, books, podcasts) you’re consuming at the time of certain projects impact the process or piece?
Absolutely. Everything I consume eventually finds its way into the work, that’s how I built Sclocco. The artist I am today is the result of years of absorbing influences from psychology, architecture, theatre, fashion, music, film, philosophy, and everyday life. None of these disciplines appear as direct references, but they shape the emotional language of the paintings: the composition, movement, symbolism, tension, and atmosphere. I don’t believe creativity comes from inventing something out of nothing. It comes from absorbing the world around you, filtering it through your own experiences, and transforming it into something that could only come from you. In many ways, Sclocco is the product of that transformation, a persona built from countless influences that have merged into a singular artistic voice.
What have been some of your favourite songs as of recent, in the studio?
Lately, I’ve been less interested in specific songs and more interested in contrast within music itself. I’m drawn to pieces that shift between softness and aggression, harmony and distortion, structure and chaos, where opposing rhythms and emotions coexist within the same composition. I realize that’s exactly what I’m trying to build through Sclocco. The alter ego exists in contrast: masculine and feminine, vulnerability and strength, beauty and discomfort, classical and contemporary, instinct and control. I’m fascinated by things that challenge what’s considered normal, that distort expectations and reveal something more honest underneath. My playlists reflect that curiosity. They move between opera, jazz, industrial, electronic, post-punk, alternative, and pop music, depending entirely on the emotional landscape I’m exploring. Once I find a sound that resonates, it stays on repeat for weeks until it becomes embedded in the paintings themselves. In many ways, the music becomes another brushstroke in the construction of Sclocco.
Noella Noel
What is your routine as you get into the studio? Do you need to ‘get into a groove’ for your artistic process?
I’m usually in my studio by noon every day. After turning on the lights and hanging out the open sign I choose a playlist. Sometimes I’ve left a painting from the day before feeling it is a failure or I’m excited to start a new series of paintings and I’ve been rehearsing them in my mind. So I’ve already been mentally preparing and getting in a groove hours before I enter the studio.
Is the studio space private, public, etc.? Do you see your studio practice/creative process as something spontaneous and open or as resulting from a more private and regular routine?
Although my studio practice/creative process is more private and spontaneous, I do welcome visitors and enjoy receiving their feedback on my work.
Do you listen to music as you create? How are you picking what you’re watching or listening to?
Music is a huge part of my creative practice. I have several studio playlists and alternate between them. Usually if a song has been added to one of these playlists it is because I know it will be part of my vibe as I work.
Does media (music, movies, shows, books, podcasts) you’re consuming at the time of certain projects impact the process or piece?
Other than music, I am not influenced by other forms of media. Music helps me to shut off my mind and enter a zone where I can be free of outside noise and work freely and spontaneously.
What have been some of your favourite songs as of recent, in the studio?
Other than jazz, I like everything from rock to country and even opera.
Elly Smallwood
What is your routine as you get into the studio? Do you need to ‘get into a groove’ for your artistic process?
I just start working first thing in the morning, and as time goes by I usually find it starts flowing more easily, but even if it doesn’t I generally just power through and work anyway.
Is the studio space private, public, etc.? Do you see your studio practice/creative process as something spontaneous and open or as resulting from a more private and regular routine?
My studio space is private, and I find it very difficult to work while being observed (even if it’s just me filming myself). I work best when I feel completely alone in my own little bubble. I find otherwise self consciousness creeps in and changes how I work.
Do you listen to music as you create? How are you picking what you’re watching or listening to?
I listen to music, podcasts, audiobooks, or something nothing at all. I find music, particularly upbeat music, helpful when I’m starting a painting and want to be making energetic and spontaneous marks.
Does media (music, movies, shows, books, podcasts) you’re consuming at the time of certain projects impact the process or piece?
I think in general it does not. I usually have my idea for the painting pretty well conceptualized by the time I start it, and listening to podcasts or audiobooks just provides some entertainment when I have long painting days.
Callum Keith Rennie